Whitehouse Weekly Bulletin 140

Friday 13th November 2020

Message from Mrs Hall

On Wednesday 11^th November, at 11.00 am the whole school took part in a 2 minute silence (socially distanced) to commemorate Remembrance Day. We are very proud of how the children behaved during this event and the consideration and understanding they demonstrated in this tribute to those who lost their lives fighting in past World Wars.  Reflection time is a key element of our Whitehouse curriculum. In these challenging times, it is so important that we continue to think of others. Thank you for your continued support.

Attendance for the Week prior to Half Term

Class with the Best Attendance – Owls (98%)

Assemblies

The theme of our assemblies for the week after the half term holiday will be: World Mental Health Day: Ten simple gestures to keep healthy physically and mentally (UNRC Link: Article 24: I have the right to the best possible health and to information that will help me to stay well).  Resources related to this assembly will soon be available on our website.  To access them, simply go to Learning and click on our Enquiry Based Assemblies.

Parents/Carers Evening

Please note we have Parents/Carers Evenings planned for Thursday 19^th November and Wednesday 25^th November.  Due to the lockdown restrictions, these are going to take place on a ‘virtual’ basis via video calls with the teachers.  By now you should have received a text asking you to log on to ‘School Cloud’ which is the system we will be using for the video calls.  Please ensure that you log on and book appointments which the relevant teacher.  Appointments will be for 10 minutes and the timings for each evening are detailed below:

Thursday 19^th November: 3.30pm to 6.30pm

Wednesday 25^th November: 3.30pm to 5.30pm

If you experience any difficulty making an appointment please contact the School Office who will be happy to help.

Christmas Cards

We know that the children at Whitehouse love Christmas and enjoy writing and sending cards to their friends and teachers. Unfortunately, this year to keep our school community safe we will not be allowing Christmas cards to be brought into school and handed out.  We are sorry and know this will be a disappointment to the children but hope you will understand the need to keep everyone safe.

Key Stage 1:

Lower Key Stage 2:

Upper Key Stage 2:

The Great Whitehouse Bake Off

If you love baking at home, then why not enter our baking competition, The Great Whitehouse Bake Off.  The competition is available to all of our year groups so please do have a try at baking a luxurious, beautifully decorated winter celebration desert!  This could be anything from cake, cupcakes, trifle, brownies, cookies or shortbread.  Use your imagination!  Remember to ask for adult supervision when baking and using kitchen equipment.  To enter, please email a photograph of your beautiful bakes along with the recipe you used to Mr Donowa at parents@whcps.org and we will upload them onto the School Website so everyone can see them.  The top 5 children will each win 5 house points.  We are excited to see your creations! 

Reading Awards

We are pleased to let you know the Purple Man Reading Award this week has gone to Hedgehogs and Toucans.  Well done all of you!

Winter Reading Challenge

The Reading Agency who bring us the Summer Reading Challenge this year have decided to also run a Winter Mini Challenge.  This encourages children to keep up their good reading habits over the winter holidays, with a free-to-access website featuring rewards and incentives for reading and reviewing books.  The Winter Mini Challenge starts on Tuesday 1^st December 2020 and finishes on Friday 15^th January 2021.

To take part, children simply read three or more books – these can be any books of their choosing.  Every time they finish a book, they add it to their Challenge website profile and leave a short book review.  Reaching their online reading goal will unlock a virtual badge and a special ‘Everyone is a Hero’ certificate to print of and keep. There will also be a whole host of fun activities, videos and reading recommendations, plus an exciting competition.   Children can visit the Winter Mini Challenge website at www.wintermini.org.uk from 1^st December 2020 to start rating and reviewing their books and enjoying the online activities.

Christmas Dinner

It is that time of year again when we are planning for our Christmas Dinner in school.  Letters have been sent home today and we would ask you to please send the reply slip back as soon as possible and by Wednesday 18^th November at the latest.  We apologise for the short space of time however we need to ensure the kitchen can cater for everyone.  Dinner will be on the following days:

Upper Key Stage 2 (Years 5/6) – Tuesday 15^th December 2020

Lower Key Stage 2 (Years 3/4) – Wednesday 16^th December 2020

Key Stage 1 (Years 1/2) – Thursday 17^th December 2020

Reception Classes – Friday 18^th December 2020

The cost of the Christmas Dinner will be £2.55 and we would ask you to please send the money in an envelope with your child’s name and class on it.  There will be no cost for those who are eligible for Free School Meals or children in Reception, Year 1 or Year 2. Please note teachers will not be able to take the money unless it is in a named envelope.  The menu will consist of:

British Roast Turkey, Sausage, Stuffing and Gravy with Roast Potatoes and Seasonal Vegetables or

Parsnip, Cheddar Cheese and Stuffing Roulade and Gravy with Roast Potatoes and Seasonal Vegetables

Raspberry Ripple Ice Cream and a Festive Shortbread Biscuit or

Snow Flecked Chocolate Brownie

On the other days of the week, a Pick and Mix ONLY will be available for all years who are not having their hot Christmas Dinner, which each day will contain a few seasonal treats. 

Hardship Assistance

We would like to send a big thank you to Morrison’s Supermarket who kindly provided the school with a donation of food items, which we can use to help any of our families who may find themselves struggling during this current lockdown.  As per our last newsletter, we also are aware of a fund which may be able to help families who are in need of replacing items such as a fridge, freezer or cooker.  We understand that for many of us the pandemic has made things very tough. If you do find yourselves struggling to feed yourself and your children or are in need of replacement items, please do get in touch with the Pastoral Team and they will see if any help can be arranged.  Please do not feel embarrassed if you need some help, we are all in this together and your enquiry will be treated with the utmost confidence.

Reception School Place

If your child was born between 1 September 2016 and 31 August 2017, please note you need to have applied for a full-time school place by 15^th January 2020.  Even if your child is already attending the Whitehouse School Nursery, you still need to ensure you apply for a place as this is not automatically given to them.  To apply, please go to www.suffolk.gov.uk/admissions or call the Admissions Team at Suffolk County Council on 0345 600 0981.

Dates for the Diary

Thursday 19^th November – Virtual Parent/Carer Evening – 3.30pm to 6.30pm

Wednesday 25^th November – Virtual Parent/Carer Evening – 3.30pm to 5.30pm

Friday 27^th November – Breaking the Mould Day

Monday 7^th December – Flu Immunisations

Tuesday 15^th December – UKS2 Christmas Dinner

Wednesday 16^th December – LKS2 Christmas Dinner

Thursday 17^th December – KS1 Christmas Dinner

Friday 18^th December – Reception Christmas Dinner

Monday 21^st December – Friday 1^st January – Christmas Holiday

Monday 4^th January – PD Day (No school for children)

Friday 12^th February – PD Day (No school for children)

Monday 15^th February – Friday 19^th February – Half Term Holiday

Thursday 4^th March – Parent/Carer Evening

Wednesday 10^th March – Parent/Carer Evening

Friday 19^th March – Whole School SMSC Event

Monday 29^th March – Friday 9^th April – Easter Holiday